drawing down the moon

Jake Benzinger
 Sari Soininen
Collaborative Zine
Spring 2024
1st Edition of 100

Hand Bound/Sewn
Printed on Black Newsprint
60 Pages 
13 3/8 x 10 5/8” |  34 x 27 cm




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drawing down the moon explores the edge of reality, a place with little coherency, where time bleeds into itself and its occupants are indistinguishable. the first publication by wych elm, this collaborative zine by jake benzinger and sari soininen interweaves the two’s images, presenting an otherworldly reality. the two harmoniously work together through distorting the natural world, referencing ideas of the liminal, mysticism, animism, and death.


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about the artists

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Sari Soininen (b.1991) is an internationally recognised Finnish photographer.

Sari holds an MA in photography from UWE Bristol (2021), BA from Lahti Institute of Design (2014), and she carried out exchange studies in Edinburgh College of Art (2013).

Her colourful otherworldly photography draws from philosophical thoughts and personal, mystical experiences. Her interest is in providing the viewer with alternative ways of seeing the world and reality around them. She uses long shutter speed, colour gels and projection to build dreamlike alternate realities within the moment.

Sari has published two books and her work has been exhibited around the world in various solo and group exhibitions. She has also been written about and included in numerous publications, such as The Guardian, Financial Times and British Journal of Photography.

Sari has limited edition works in private collections in Finland, the United States, Canada, Japan, Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom. She is represented in France by Marie Valat Agency.


drawing down the moon includes never before seen work by Sari.

Jake Benzinger (he/him) is a photographer, book artist, and writer based in Rockland, Maine; he received his BFA in photography from Lesley University, College of Art and Design in Cambridge, MA. His work explores self-created mythos, weaving together imagery to navigate the space between fiction and reality—investigating themes of identity, mysticism, animism, and death.

His work has been shown nationally and internationally in solo and group exhibitions at the Griffin Museum of Photography, Center for Fine Art Photography, Glasgow Gallery of Photography, 82Parris, Panopticon Gallery, RIT City Space Gallery, and more. He has been featured by numerous platforms including Lensculture, Float Magazine, Lenscratch, Transference Magazine, and Fraction Magazine. His publications are held in collections at the National Gallery of Art, School of Visual Arts, and Griffin Museum of Photography, and his monograph, Like Dust Settling in a Dim-Lit Room (Or Starless Forest), was shortlisted for the 2023 Lucie Photobook Prize.

Jake is currently the assistant gallery manager, associate curator of photography, and curator of books at Blue Raven Gallery, a content editor for Lenscratch, and the founder/director of wych elm, an independent press creating small-run photo books, zines, and fine art ephemera.